The sky already dispyed shades e and purple as Tang Xi walked through the forest, her steps slightly heavier than usual. The strain from the previous escape still affected her. With less than half of her spiritual energy remaining, her body was beginning to feel the effects of exhaustion.

  She lifted her gaze and noticed how quickly daylight was fading among the dereetops.

  — "I'd better hurry."

  If there was ohing she had learned in her previous life, it was that the night was always more dangerous than the day.

  After a few minutes of exploration, her sharp eyes caught something unusual ahead. Hidden among twisted roots and partially covered by undergrowth, a cave y cealed at the side of a rocky formation.

  However, instead of approag immediately, Xi stopped at a safe distance, her senses expanding in full alert.

  Experience had taught her that seemingly safe pces could hide fatal threats.

  She took a deep breath and summoned her Lunar Umbrel, activating its cealment ability. Her figure seemed to dissolve into the dim light, dist like a refle on water. Hidden, she advanced carefully, keeping her eyes keenly focused on any signs of activity he entrance.

  As she drew closer, she noticed that the cave was sealed by a rge rock blog the passage. The stone appeared untouched for a long time, covered in a thin yer of moss and accumuted dirt.

  'If this stone has been here for so long, it means ne animal has been using this pce as a den.'

  Even so, Xi did not lower her guard. She tested the surface of the rock with a geoud realized that, with enough force, she could push it aside.

  After a few moments of focus, she eled her energy and pushed the stoh all her strength. The rock moved with a low, deep rumble, scraping against the ground before finally rolling to the side, revealing the entrance.

  Immediately, Xi leaped backward, remaining on high alert. If anything were ihe cave, now would be the time for it to attack.

  But nothing happened.

  After a few seds of absolute silence, she approached again, cautiously the interior.

  The cave was small, just slightly rger than her room, and seemed to have been used by hunters or cultivators in the past. Remnants of wooden supports and some marks on the walls indicated that someone had oayed there, but it had been a long time.

  She deactivated the Lunar Umbrel's cealment ability and stored it away.

  "An abandoned shelter… better than nothing."

  With a swift gesture, Xi retrieved a sing talisman from her spatial ring and activated it. A light breeze swept through the cave, clearing away the dust and refreshing the air.

  Then, she took out a few spiritual nterns, illuminating the pce with a soft blue glow. To ensure her safety and recovery, she pced a sed-level defensive formation disc at the entrance, preventing unwanted presences from approag. Ihe cave, she set up a Qi-gathering formation disc to aid her meditation.

  Only then did she allow herself to rex.

  — "Much better..."

  She pulled out a portable bathtub from her spatial ring, filled it with heated water, and finally took a bath, washing away the traces of the exhausting day.

  Dressed in clothes, she settled onto a meditation futon. Sitting cross-legged, she began to meditate, rec her spiritual energy with the help of a few Qi pills and a fasting pill, for hunger.

  Time passed in silence, and after two hours, she opened her eyes, feeling pletely restored.

  "This time, my foundation is fully stable. I just o adjust my mi."

  She leased—now, she no longer o suppress her breakthrough; she would let it e naturally.

  Now that the essentials were taken care of, Tang Xi allowed herself to mentally review everything that had happened.

  — "Today was truly eventful."

  Her mind drifted back to the day's events.

  The fierce battle against the Cloudy-Haired Boar, the relentless chase through the forest, the danger of the Vine-Snakes, and finally, the successful escape by crossing the river ied with Dark Rock Piranhas.

  All of it had tested her endurance, intelligence, and bat skills.

  But there were lessons to be learned.

  Tang Xi closed her eyes for a moment, anizihoughts.

  "I could have taken down the boar more quickly...The battle was different from the one I had against Kai, although my level had increased, it only increased how muergy I had, and there was little strengthening to my physique, but my problem remaihe same. My physical training advantage had almost no effect against such a robust spiritual animal…"

  The memory of the battle surfaced. The boar was incredibly tough, and her metallic aura, though sharp arating, had not been as effective as she had hoped.

  "Maybe if I had used the ons and artifacts my father gave me… But that wouldn't make sense. I o train my own body and energy. If I rely ohings now, how will I ever grow?"

  She sighed.

  The most obvious mistake was not notig the blood on her clothes immediately. Small droplets had been enough for the boar herd to track her movements. This had cost her valuable time and forced her to e an absurd amount of spiritual energy during the escape.

  If she had noticed earlier, she could have removed the stained clothing or even found a way to mask the st.

  Small details could mean the differeween life ah.

  But the most valuable lesson came from the battle itself.

  — "My biggest problem is still my ineffit use of spiritual energy..."

  Tang Xi furrowed her brows, recalling the fight against the boar.

  Her Metal Aura, despite being sharp, hadn't caused as much damage as expected.

  In theory, earth strengtheal, so it should have been a good choice… but in practice, the result was different.

  "The Cloud-Haired Boar was clearly a spiritual beast of the earth elemeh is weak against wood. But even though wood develop offeraits ter on, it—along with water—cks raw attack power and is mostly used for support..."

  A frustrating issue was that although she could project her aura and unch it as an attack, it would have ed too muergy, and without a guarantee of success, it would have been too risky.

  "To be cautious, I o test just how powerful that attack really is—only then I know if it's safe to use ime."

  But if she had fought without sidering that...

  "Perhaps fire would have been more effective… And if I had bi with the Lunar Umbrel's ability to increase the weight of my attack? The battle would have ended much faster..."

  Theory was ohing. Real application was another entirely.

  Still, all things sidered, her first battle against a spiritual beast had not been a failure.

  — "It was a good experience. I had to think quickly, improvise… But now I know I o test my elemental affinities in real bat, not just rely on what seems like the right choice."

  Tang Xi took a deep breath, feeling the exhaustioling into her body.

  Even with her thoughts still rag, her body was finally starting to rex.

  She closed her eyes, allowing sleep to take over.

  Outside, the forest had been draped in darkness. The wind whispered through the leaves, small sounds echoed in the distance—light footsteps, the rustling of vegetation, the distant howl of a beast.

  The world seemed full of mysteries and dangers, yet it also felt alive.

  Even so, she did not feel uneasy.

  The Lunar Umbrel, by her side, emitted a soft aura, as if it uood her thoughts. It was like a silent guardian, warding off the cold of the night.

  And, surrounded by this quiet sense of security, Tang Xi fell asleep, gathering energy to face a new day.

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